Automatically generating workflows across cloud services involving user-controlled components

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, and processor-readable storage media for automatically generating workflows across cloud services involving user-controlled components are provided herein. An example computer-implemented method includes processing a user request to perform configuration operations on cloud services components, wherein at least one of the cloud services components is user-controlled; generating one or more automation files containing one or more workflows related to configuration operations on the cloud services components; outputting at least a portion of the one or more automation files containing at least a portion of the workflow(s) related to configuration operations on the at least one user-controlled cloud services component to at least one secure storage area accessible to at least one user via one or more cryptographic techniques; processing feedback pertaining to user execution of the at least a portion of the one or more automation files; and performing one or more automated actions based on the feedback.

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialwhich is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

FIELD

The field relates generally to information processing systems, and moreparticularly to techniques involving cloud services in connection withsuch systems.

BACKGROUND

Managing multi-cloud deployments presents challenges when services inone cloud service require configuration changes in one or more othercloud services. For example, an application executing in a cloud serviceprovider may require access to a remote hosted storage service. In suchscenarios, conventional cloud management approaches commonly requireobtaining credentials to each of multiple environments, but users areoften unlikely and/or unwilling to provide cloud service providercredentials, limiting the effectiveness of such approaches.

SUMMARY

Illustrative embodiments of the disclosure provide techniques forautomatically generating workflows across cloud services involvinguser-controlled components. An exemplary computer-implemented methodincludes processing at least one user request to perform configurationoperations on two or more cloud services components, wherein at leastone of the two or more cloud services components is user-controlled, andgenerating, using at least one rule-based configuration orchestrator,one or more automation files containing one or more workflows related toconfiguration operations on the two or more cloud services components.The method also includes outputting at least a portion of the one ormore automation files containing at least a portion of the one or moreworkflows related to configuration operations on the at least oneuser-controlled cloud services component to at least one secure storagearea accessible to at least one user via one or more cryptographictechniques. Further, the method includes processing feedback pertainingto user execution of the at least a portion of the one or moreautomation files containing at least a portion of the one or moreworkflows related to configuration operations on the at least oneuser-controlled cloud services component, and performing one or moreautomated actions based at least in part on the feedback.

Illustrative embodiments can provide significant advantages relative toconventional cloud management approaches. For example, problemsassociated with limited effectiveness of attempting to coordinateobtainment of cloud service provider credentials from users are overcomein one or more embodiments through automatically generating workflowsacross cloud services including cloud services containinguser-controlled components.

These and other illustrative embodiments described herein include,without limitation, methods, apparatus, systems, and computer programproducts comprising processor-readable storage media.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an information processing system configured forautomatically generating workflows across cloud services involvinguser-controlled components in an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 2 shows an example workflow implementation in an illustrativeembodiment.

FIG. 3 shows example pseudocode for implementing a rule-basedconfiguration orchestrator in an illustrative embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a process for automatically generatingworkflows across cloud services involving user-controlled components inan illustrative embodiment.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show examples of processing platforms that may be utilizedto implement at least a portion of an information processing system inillustrative embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Illustrative embodiments will be described herein with reference toexemplary computer networks and associated computers, servers, networkdevices or other types of processing devices. It is to be appreciated,however, that these and other embodiments are not restricted to use withthe particular illustrative network and device configurations shown.Accordingly, the term “computer network” as used herein is intended tobe broadly construed, so as to encompass, for example, any systemcomprising multiple networked processing devices.

FIG. 1 shows a computer network (also referred to herein as aninformation processing system) 100 configured in accordance with anillustrative embodiment. The computer network 100 comprises a pluralityof user devices 102-1, 102-2, . . . 102-M, collectively referred toherein as user devices 102. The user devices 102 are coupled to anetwork 104, where the network 104 in this embodiment is assumed torepresent a sub-network or other related portion of the larger computernetwork 100. Accordingly, elements 100 and 104 are both referred toherein as examples of “networks” but the latter is assumed to be acomponent of the former in the context of the FIG. 1 embodiment. Alsocoupled to network 104 is automated cloud services workflow generationsystem 105.

The user devices 102 may comprise, for example, mobile telephones,laptop computers, tablet computers, desktop computers or other types ofcomputing devices. Such devices are examples of what are more generallyreferred to herein as “processing devices.” Some of these processingdevices are also generally referred to herein as “computers.”

The user devices 102 in some embodiments comprise respective computersassociated with a particular company, organization or other enterprise.In addition, at least portions of the computer network 100 may also bereferred to herein as collectively comprising an “enterprise network.”Numerous other operating scenarios involving a wide variety of differenttypes and arrangements of processing devices and networks are possible,as will be appreciated by those skilled in the art.

Also, it is to be appreciated that the term “user” in this context andelsewhere herein is intended to be broadly construed so as to encompass,for example, human, hardware, software or firmware entities, as well asvarious combinations of such entities.

The network 104 is assumed to comprise a portion of a global computernetwork such as the Internet, although other types of networks can bepart of the computer network 100, including a wide area network (WAN), alocal area network (LAN), a satellite network, a telephone or cablenetwork, a cellular network, a wireless network such as a Wi-Fi or WiMAXnetwork, or various portions or combinations of these and other types ofnetworks. The computer network 100 in some embodiments thereforecomprises combinations of multiple different types of networks, eachcomprising processing devices configured to communicate using internetprotocol (IP) or other related communication protocols.

Additionally, automated cloud services workflow generation system 105can have an associated secure storage area 106 configured to store datapertaining to different cloud services, cloud service providers, systemsand/or system components, which comprise, for example, configurationdata, execution data, etc.

The secure storage area 106 in the present embodiment is implementedusing one or more storage systems associated with automated cloudservices workflow generation system 105. Such storage systems cancomprise any of a variety of different types of storage includingnetwork-attached storage (NAS), storage area networks (SANs),direct-attached storage (DAS) and distributed DAS, as well ascombinations of these and other storage types, includingsoftware-defined storage. In one or more embodiments, secure storagearea 106 can include one or more encrypted storage devices, one or moreencrypted file systems, one or more encrypted databases, etc.

Also associated with automated cloud services workflow generation system105 are one or more input-output devices, which illustratively comprisekeyboards, displays or other types of input-output devices in anycombination. Such input-output devices can be used, for example, tosupport one or more user interfaces to automated cloud services workflowgeneration system 105, as well as to support communication betweenautomated cloud services workflow generation system 105 and otherrelated systems and devices not explicitly shown.

Additionally, automated cloud services workflow generation system 105 inthe FIG. 1 embodiment is assumed to be implemented using at least oneprocessing device. Each such processing device generally comprises atleast one processor and an associated memory, and implements one or morefunctional modules for controlling certain features of automated cloudservices workflow generation system 105.

More particularly, automated cloud services workflow generation system105 in this embodiment can comprise a processor coupled to a memory anda network interface.

The processor illustratively comprises a microprocessor, a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU), a tensorprocessing unit (TPU), a microcontroller, an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC), a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) orother type of processing circuitry, as well as portions or combinationsof such circuitry elements.

The memory illustratively comprises random access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM) or other types of memory, in any combination. Thememory and other memories disclosed herein may be viewed as examples ofwhat are more generally referred to as “processor-readable storagemedia” storing executable computer program code or other types ofsoftware programs.

One or more embodiments include articles of manufacture, such ascomputer-readable storage media. Examples of an article of manufactureinclude, without limitation, a storage device such as a storage disk, astorage array or an integrated circuit containing memory, as well as awide variety of other types of computer program products. The term“article of manufacture” as used herein should be understood to excludetransitory, propagating signals. These and other references to “disks”herein are intended to refer generally to storage devices, includingsolid-state drives (SSDs), and should therefore not be viewed as limitedin any way to spinning magnetic media.

The network interface allows automated cloud services workflowgeneration system 105 to communicate over the network 104 with the userdevices 102, and illustratively comprises one or more conventionaltransceivers.

The automated cloud services workflow generation system 105 furthercomprises cloud services interface console 112, rule-based configurationorchestrator 114, and automated action generator 116.

As further detailed herein, cloud services interface console 112 caninclude at least one interface used by users (e.g., customers) toprovision one or more cloud services and/or one or more other services(e.g., compute services, storage services, etc.) from at least one givenenterprise.

It is to be appreciated that this particular arrangement of elements112, 114 and 116 illustrated in the automated cloud services workflowgeneration system 105 of the FIG. 1 embodiment is presented by way ofexample only, and alternative arrangements can be used in otherembodiments. For example, the functionality associated with elements112, 114 and 116 in other embodiments can be combined into a singlemodule, or separated across a larger number of modules. As anotherexample, multiple distinct processors can be used to implement differentones of elements 112, 114 and 116 or portions thereof.

At least portions of elements 112, 114 and 116 may be implemented atleast in part in the form of software that is stored in memory andexecuted by a processor.

It is to be understood that the particular set of elements shown in FIG.1 for automatically generating workflows across cloud services involvinguser-controlled components involving user devices 102 of computernetwork 100 is presented by way of illustrative example only, and inother embodiments additional or alternative elements may be used. Thus,another embodiment includes additional or alternative systems, devicesand other network entities, as well as different arrangements of modulesand other components. For example, in at least one embodiment, automatedcloud services workflow generation system 105 and secure storage area106 can be on and/or part of the same processing platform.

An exemplary process utilizing elements 112, 114 and 116 of an exampleautomated cloud services workflow generation system 105 in computernetwork 100 will be described in more detail with reference to the flowdiagram of FIG. 4 .

Accordingly, at least one embodiment includes automatically generatingworkflows across cloud services involving user-controlled components. Asfurther detailed herein, one or more embodiments include generatingand/or implementing an automation service in connection with at leastone remote location (e.g., a cloud service, a remote hosted storageservice, etc.), wherein the service can automate the configuration of atleast a portion of the remote location, as well as provide localizedworkflows for one or more orchestration frameworks (for example, aconfiguration management tool such as Ansible, or an infrastructure ascode platform such as Terraform). Users (e.g., customers at a remotelocation) can add and/or input their credentials to these workflows andexecute the workflows in the context of the given environment (e.g., adata center environment, a cloud service provider environment, etc.) tocomplete at least one related configuration setup.

Additionally, and as further detailed herein, one or more embodimentsincluding automating processes to communicate with users (e.g.,customers) regarding what steps need to be taken in order to configureone or more user-controlled cloud services components. Also, in the caseof failures, such an embodiment includes automating processes to obtainsufficient data from users to determine the root cause(s) of thefailures.

In connection with one or more embodiments, users may provideenvironmental information (for example, security credentials, IPaddresses, host names, LAN identifiers (IDs), etc.) that they arewilling to share when executing the remote automation service. Theremote automation service can then use at least a portion of theprovided environmental information in one or more localized scriptsand/or workflows. As used herein, a script refers to an implementationof a workflow, wherein a workflow refers to a sequence of actions to beexecuted (e.g., a sequence of actions required to setup a cloud serviceand/or cloud services component). Additionally or alternatively, atleast one embodiment includes configuring the remote automation serviceto use one or more placeholders for environmental information notprovided by the user(s). The resulting scripts and/or workflowsgenerated and/or provided to the user(s) can be signed with one or morecertificates, in order to validate the chain of trust of each scriptand/or workflow.

Also, in one or more embodiments, each setup set (e.g., a set of scriptsthat allow a user (e.g., a customer) to configure a service) is taggedwith appropriate information (e.g., customer ID, system ID, request ID,etc.), and the delivered and/or provided package can include appropriatedocumentation for users to understand the contents and executionprocess(es) of the package. At least one embodiment includesautomatically generating such documentation using at least a portion ofthe environmental data provided by the user(s) and/or one or moreplaceholder identifiers, along with instructions regarding what shouldbe used for the one or more placeholders when the scripts and/orworkflows are executed. Users can (offline, for example) examine andvalidate the contents of the automation files prior to execution.Alternatively, in one or more embodiments, the autogenerated setup filescan be self-executing (e.g., using container images, etc.). By way ofexample, with respect to self-executing setup files, in one or moreembodiments, setup files can be included in a container image, and whena user instantiates the image as a container instance, the scriptingengine (a computer program) provided with the container image executesall of the scripts necessary for the configuration of the desiredservice(s).

One or more of the files provided in connection with an automationservice can be referred to herein as a change set, and such files caninclude, for example, one or more scripts and/or one or more workflowsnecessary to automate one or more relevant configuration changes, one ormore scripts and/or one or more workflows necessary to automate at leastone rollback if at least a portion of the automated configuration failsto complete successfully, and/or appropriate and/or customizeddocumentation to guide the user in executing at least a portion of theone or more scripts and/or one or more workflows.

In one or more embodiments, the process of generating and/or providingchange set files to one or more users is automated. By way of example,change set files may be provided (e.g., to one or more users) using atleast one secure storage area (protected, e.g., using encryption and/orauthentication techniques), using at least one representational statetransfer (REST) application programming interface (API) and/or one ormore similar APIs presented by the user(s), via email, and/or via one ormore other mechanisms capable of securely communicating the one or morescripts and/or one or more workflows and associated files to theuser(s).

When executed by a user, such a change set as detailed herein inconnection with one or more embodiments automatically generates at leastone output (e.g., an output for remote site support staff and/or theuser) to examine the result(s) of the execution. Such results caninclude, for example, a summary of the execution (e.g., a passingindication or a failing indication), one or more logs, and/or statusinformation of a target system resulting from the setup execution. Suchresults can also be automatically post-processed and/or examined by theuser, if desired and/or required.

In at least one embodiment, notification of the execution results can begenerated and/or provided to the given remote location. Suchnotification can be carried out, for example, by the user writing and/orproviding a result file into at least one secure storage area, by theone or more scripts and/or one or more workflows automaticallycommunicating with at least one API endpoint accessed by the one or morescripts and/or one or more workflows, by use of at least one secure userinterface, and/or by use of one or more other secure communicationsmechanisms agreed upon by the remote site and the user. Additionally, inone or more embodiments, information pertaining to execution history maybe maintained in at least one secure storage area (e.g., for auditpurposes, for model training purposes, etc.).

As detailed herein, one or more embodiments include automating theconfiguration process of locations wherein remote automation frameworksare unable to directly manipulate the configuration of assets at thelocation. As used herein, “locations” in this context can includecomputing and/or storage environments such as, for example, one or moreuser data centers, one or more services hosted by a cloud serviceprovider, dark sites hosted by users wherein the remote location is theuser's own data center(s) and wherein the management of the dark sitecannot be automated from the primary data center, etc. As used herein adark site refers to a user (e.g., customer) location to which thesolution provider (e.g., an enterprise) does not have remote access.

Additionally, using one or more embodiments, a configuration process canbe automated for the user and a relevant remote automation provider. Forexample, a remote automation provider can supply localized,autogenerated, and trusted setup automation files (also referred toherein as a change set) that can be executed offline by the user. Atleast one embodiment can also include verifying and/or troubleshootingat least one offline setup execution, using one or more logs, one ormore activity reports, and/or status information, which can be at leasta part of an output of the automation file(s) execution.

As also detailed herein, in one or more embodiments, the automation of asetup at a user site can be achieved using an orchestrator (e.g.,rule-based configuration orchestrator 114 in the FIG. 1 embodimentand/or rule-based configuration orchestrator 214 in the FIG. 2embodiment) managed by the remote provider (e.g., even without directaccess to the system components managed by the user). Automation can beachieved, for example, by using at least one information exchangemechanism (e.g., at least one programmatic API, at least one securestorage area, etc.), and by processing at least a portion of the resultsfrom the change set. Additionally, in at least one embodiment, access tosuch an information exchange mechanism can be automated, for example,using at least API.

By way merely of illustration, consider the example implementation ofone or more embodiments depicted in connection with FIG. 2 . As depictedin the FIG. 2 example, System S 220 includes Component A 222, which isremotely-operated (e.g., a Smart Network Fabric (SN-Fabric) and providedand/or controlled by Enterprise1, and Component Z 224, which isuser-controlled, and not accessible to Enterprise1 (e.g., a CloudService Provider). By way merely of example, enterprise-controlledand/or remotely-operated components can include, for instance,components pertaining to one or more enterprise compute systems, one ormore database services, etc., while user-controlled components caninclude, for instance, components pertaining to one or more storagesystems at a dark site.

At least one embodiment can include determining a configuration orderthat can support both cases: Component A 222 then Component Z 224, andComponent Z 224 then Component A 222. With respect to the case ofComponent A 222 then Component Z 224, cloud services interface console212 is utilized. For example, in connection with one or moreembodiments, cloud services interface console 212 is used to automatethe configuration of Component A 222, and generate configurationinformation for Component Z 224, which includes generating, usingrule-based configuration orchestrator 214, one or more scripts and/orone or more workflows and documentation to configure Component Z 224.Also, the generated scripts and/or workflows can be delivered and/oroutput, for example, to secure storage area 206.

With respect to configuring Component Z 224, the user (via user device202) can access the generated scripts and/or workflows from securestorage area 206, execute at least a portion of the scripts and/orworkflows, and generate and/or provide results of the execution, forexample, by outputting documentation of the results into the securestorage area 206. The automation process for Component A 222 can includewaiting for the results provided by the user with respect to Component Z224, and then completing the automation of configuring Component A 222based at least in part on processing those results.

By way of further illustration, in connection with the FIG. 2embodiment, consider the following example workflow depicted by circlednumbers one through ten in FIG. 2 . In step one, the user (via userdevice 202) requests, through cloud services interface console 212, thatSystem S 220 (including Component A 222 and Component Z 224) beconfigured. In step two, cloud services interface console 212 requeststhat the rule-based configuration orchestrator 214 perform theconfiguration of System S 220. In step three, the rule-basedconfiguration orchestrator 214 generates one or more automation files(e.g., one or more scripts and/or one or more workflows) for Component A222 (which can be accessed by the rule-based configuration orchestrator214) and Component Z 224 (which the rule-based configurationorchestrator 214 cannot directly access).

In step four, the rule-based configuration orchestrator 214 provides theautomation files (e.g., and corresponding documentation, also generatedautomatically) to the secure storage area 206 and notifies the user viauser device 202 (e.g., through an email and/or an API). In step five,the user, via user device 202, obtains and/or accesses the automationfiles from the secure storage area 206. In step six, the user, via userdevice 202, examines and/or validates the automation files, then appliesthem offline using their credentials (e.g., the user's privatecredentials) for accessing Component Z 224. Accordingly, in one or moreembodiments, there is an air gap between the rule-based configurationorchestrator 214 and Component Z 224, wherein the air gap is theresponsibility of the user.

In step seven, the user provides the results of the execution of theautomation files (on Component Z 224 and received from and/or obtainedin connection with Component Z 224) in the secure storage area 206. Instep eight, the rule-based configuration orchestrator 214 isautomatically notified that the user-initiated configuration operationon Component Z 224 has been completed, and the rule-based configurationorchestrator 214 processes the results from the secure storage area 206.In step nine, the rule-based configuration orchestrator 214 resumes theconfiguration process for System S 220 (e.g., for Component A 222). Instep ten, the user, via user device 202, is notified of the overallresult of the configuration of System S 220 through the cloud servicesinterface console 212.

It is to be noted that the above-noted example sequence of events isimplemented for a situation wherein Component Z 224 is to be configuredbefore Component A 222, but it is to be appreciated that a similarsequence of events can be implemented for a situation wherein ComponentA 222 needs to be configured before Component Z 224. For example, insuch a situation, the rule-based configuration orchestrator 214configures Component A 222 and provides the automation files (alsoreferred to as the setup set) to the secure storage area 206 for theuser device 202 to access to use for configuring Component Z 224 if theresult of configuring Component A 222 is successful (whereas a rollbackcan be required for Component A 222 if the automation files result in aconfiguration failure for Component Z 224). It is also to be noted thatthe above is merely an example, and one or more embodiments can includeimplementing the techniques detailed herein in situations whereinComponent A 222 generates multiple workflows for Component Z 224, suchthat a corresponding configuration sequence includes Component A222→Component Z 224→Component A 222→Component Z 224→Component A 222 (andpossibly more iterations depending on the complexity of the desiredconfiguration). Additionally, it is to be appreciated that in one ormore embodiments, there may be multiple instances of Component A 222and/or Component Z 224.

FIG. 3 shows example pseudocode for implementing a rule-basedconfiguration orchestrator (such as, for example, rule-basedconfiguration orchestrator 114 in the FIG. 1 embodiment and rule-basedconfiguration orchestrator 214 in the FIG. 2 embodiment) in anillustrative embodiment. In this embodiment, example pseudocode 300 isexecuted by or under the control of at least one processing systemand/or device. For example, the example pseudocode 300 may be viewed ascomprising a portion of a software implementation of at least part ofautomated cloud services workflow generation system 105 of the FIG. 1embodiment.

The example pseudocode 300 illustrates that the rule-based configurationorchestrator waits for a user request, provided using the cloud servicesinterface console (similar to step one in FIG. 2 ). The rule-basedconfiguration orchestrator parses the request, determines a list ofcomponents to be configured as well as the order in which the componentsneed to be configured (similar to step two in FIG. 2 ), and subsequentlyproceeds to configure the components in the required order.

In the case of remotely-operated components (e.g., Component A in FIG. 2), the rule-based configuration orchestrator performs the configurationoperations directly (e.g., by calling a programmatic API) (similar tostep three in FIG. 2 ). For user-controlled components (e.g., ComponentZ 224 in FIG. 2 ), the rule-based configuration orchestrator generates aworkflow script for each such component, assigns a request ID to eachsuch workflow script, stores each workflow script in a secure storagearea (similar to step four in FIG. 2 ), and automatically notifies thecorresponding user (e.g., via email or other agreed-upon APInotification).

The user then retrieves the workflow script from the secure storage area(similar to step five in FIG. 2 ) and executes the workflow script intheir own operating environment (similar to step six in FIG. 2 ).Subsequently, the user stores the operation result(s) in the securestorage area using at least one API function (similar to step seven inFIG. 2 ). The rule-based configuration orchestrator waits for theoperation result to be available in the secure storage area, andproceeds accordingly, in case of success or failure as indicated by theoperation result(s) (similarly to step eight in FIG. 2 ).

In the case of failure, the operation result(s) provides data about thefailure (e.g., logging records, command execution results, etc.) for therule-based configuration orchestrator to process to determine one ormore root causes of the failure. Based at least in part on suchdeterminations, the rule-based configuration orchestrator can providerelevant information about the failure to the user (and, if relevant,the service provider via the cloud services interface console)(similarly to step ten in FIG. 2 ).

It is to be appreciated that this particular example pseudocode showsjust one example implementation of a rule-based configurationorchestrator, and alternative implementations of the process can be usedin other embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram of a process for automatically generatingworkflows across cloud services involving user-controlled components inan illustrative embodiment. It is to be understood that this particularprocess is only an example, and additional or alternative processes canbe carried out in other embodiments.

In this embodiment, the process includes steps 400 through 408. Thesesteps are assumed to be performed by automated cloud services workflowgeneration system 105 utilizing its elements 112, 114 and 116.

Step 400 includes processing at least one user request to performconfiguration operations on two or more cloud services components,wherein at least one of the two or more cloud services components isuser-controlled. In at least one embodiment, processing the at least oneuser request includes obtaining and processing information pertaining toeach of the two more cloud services components.

Step 402 includes generating, using at least one rule-basedconfiguration orchestrator, one or more automation files containing oneor more workflows related to configuration operations on the two or morecloud services components. In one or more embodiments, generating theone or more automation files includes validating a chain of trust forthe one or more automation files by signing the one or more automationfiles using one or more certificates. In at least one embodiment,processing the at least one user request includes processinguser-provided environmental information pertaining to one or more of theuser and at least a portion of the two or more cloud servicescomponents. In such an embodiment, generating the one or more automationfiles includes inputting, in the one or more automation files, at leasta portion of the user-provided environmental information and inputtingone or more placeholders for environmental information not provided bythe user.

Step 404 includes outputting at least a portion of the one or moreautomation files containing at least a portion of the one or moreworkflows related to configuration operations on the at least oneuser-controlled cloud services component to at least one secure storagearea accessible to the user via one or more cryptographic techniques.Such cryptographic techniques can include, for example, one or morepassword-related techniques, one or more key-related techniques, one ormore biometric-related techniques, one or more encryption techniques,one or more hashing techniques, etc. In at least one embodiment,outputting at least a portion of the one or more automation filescontaining at least a portion of the one or more workflows related toconfiguration operations on the at least one user-controlled cloudservices component to at least one secure storage area includesautomatically outputting a notification, to the user, pertaining to theoutputting of the at least a portion of the one or more automation filesusing one or more application programming interfaces.

Step 406 includes processing feedback pertaining to user execution ofthe at least a portion of the one or more automation files containing atleast a portion of the one or more workflows related to configurationoperations on the at least one user-controlled cloud services component.In one or more embodiments, processing the feedback includes accessingthe feedback, using one or more cryptographic techniques, from the atleast one secure storage area. Also, in at least one embodiment, thefeedback includes data, automatically generated by the one or moreautomation files, in at least one format that can be processed by the atleast one rule-based configuration orchestrator. In such an embodiment,the feedback can correspond, for example, to the “Operation Result”detailed in example pseudocode 300 in FIG. 3 .

Step 408 includes performing one or more automated actions based atleast in part on the feedback. In at least one embodiment, performingone or more automated actions includes automatically executing, based atleast in part on the feedback, at least a portion of the one or moreautomation files containing at least a portion of the one or moreworkflows related to configuration operations on at least one other ofthe two or more cloud services components. Additionally oralternatively, performing one or more automated actions can includeautomatically updating, based at least in part on the feedback, at leasta portion of the one or more automation files containing at least aportion of the one or more workflows related to configuration operationson at least one other of the two or more cloud services components,and/or automatically updating, based at least in part on the feedback,at least a portion of the one or more automation files containing atleast a portion of the one or more workflows related to configurationoperations on the at least one user-controlled cloud services component.Further, in one or more embodiments, performing one or more automatedactions includes automatically modifying the at least one rule-basedconfiguration orchestrator based at least in part on the feedback.

Additionally or alternatively, performing one or more automated actionscan include storing, in the at least one secure storage area, the one ormore automation files and the feedback. In one or more embodiments,persistently storing the one or more automation files and the feedbackcan be leveraged for purposes of, for example, auditing (at any time inthe future) one or more configuration operations and correspondingresults, troubleshooting, security-related activities, etc.

Accordingly, the particular processing operations and otherfunctionality described in conjunction with the flow diagram of FIG. 4are presented by way of illustrative example only, and should not beconstrued as limiting the scope of the disclosure in any way. Forexample, the ordering of the process steps may be varied in otherembodiments, or certain steps may be performed concurrently with oneanother rather than serially.

The above-described illustrative embodiments provide significantadvantages relative to conventional approaches. For example, someembodiments are configured to automatically generate workflows acrosscloud services involving inaccessible user-controlled sites. These andother embodiments can effectively overcome problems associated withlimited effectiveness of attempting to coordinate obtainment of cloudservice provider credentials from users.

It is to be appreciated that the particular advantages described aboveand elsewhere herein are associated with particular illustrativeembodiments and need not be present in other embodiments. Also, theparticular types of information processing system features andfunctionality as illustrated in the drawings and described above areexemplary only, and numerous other arrangements may be used in otherembodiments.

As mentioned previously, at least portions of the information processingsystem 100 can be implemented using one or more processing platforms. Agiven such processing platform comprises at least one processing devicecomprising a processor coupled to a memory. The processor and memory insome embodiments comprise respective processor and memory elements of avirtual machine or container provided using one or more underlyingphysical machines. The term “processing device” as used herein isintended to be broadly construed so as to encompass a wide variety ofdifferent arrangements of physical processors, memories and other devicecomponents as well as virtual instances of such components. For example,a “processing device” in some embodiments can comprise or be executedacross one or more virtual processors. Processing devices can thereforebe physical or virtual and can be executed across one or more physicalor virtual processors. It should also be noted that a given virtualdevice can be mapped to a portion of a physical one.

Some illustrative embodiments of a processing platform used to implementat least a portion of an information processing system comprises cloudinfrastructure including virtual machines implemented using a hypervisorthat runs on physical infrastructure. The cloud infrastructure furthercomprises sets of applications running on respective ones of the virtualmachines under the control of the hypervisor. It is also possible to usemultiple hypervisors each providing a set of virtual machines using atleast one underlying physical machine. Different sets of virtualmachines provided by one or more hypervisors may be utilized inconfiguring multiple instances of various components of the system.

These and other types of cloud infrastructure can be used to providewhat is also referred to herein as a multi-tenant environment. One ormore system components, or portions thereof, are illustrativelyimplemented for use by tenants of such a multi-tenant environment.

As mentioned previously, cloud infrastructure as disclosed herein caninclude cloud-based systems. Virtual machines provided in such systemscan be used to implement at least portions of a computer system inillustrative embodiments.

In some embodiments, the cloud infrastructure additionally oralternatively comprises a plurality of containers implemented usingcontainer host devices. For example, as detailed herein, a givencontainer of cloud infrastructure illustratively comprises a Dockercontainer or other type of Linux Container (LXC). The containers are runon virtual machines in a multi-tenant environment, although otherarrangements are possible. The containers are utilized to implement avariety of different types of functionality within the system 100. Forexample, containers can be used to implement respective processingdevices providing compute and/or storage services of a cloud-basedsystem. Again, containers may be used in combination with othervirtualization infrastructure such as virtual machines implemented usinga hypervisor.

Illustrative embodiments of processing platforms will now be describedin greater detail with reference to FIGS. 5 and 6 . Although describedin the context of system 100, these platforms may also be used toimplement at least portions of other information processing systems inother embodiments.

FIG. 5 shows an example processing platform comprising cloudinfrastructure 500. The cloud infrastructure 500 comprises a combinationof physical and virtual processing resources that are utilized toimplement at least a portion of the information processing system 100.The cloud infrastructure 500 comprises multiple virtual machines (VMs)and/or container sets 502-1, 502-2, . . . 502-L implemented usingvirtualization infrastructure 504. The virtualization infrastructure 504runs on physical infrastructure 505, and illustratively comprises one ormore hypervisors and/or operating system level virtualizationinfrastructure. The operating system level virtualization infrastructureillustratively comprises kernel control groups of a Linux operatingsystem or other type of operating system.

The cloud infrastructure 500 further comprises sets of applications510-1, 510-2, . . . 510-L running on respective ones of theVMs/container sets 502-1, 502-2, . . . 502-L under the control of thevirtualization infrastructure 504. The VMs/container sets 502 compriserespective VMs, respective sets of one or more containers, or respectivesets of one or more containers running in VMs. In some implementationsof the FIG. 5 embodiment, the VMs/container sets 502 comprise respectiveVMs implemented using virtualization infrastructure 504 that comprisesat least one hypervisor.

A hypervisor platform may be used to implement a hypervisor within thevirtualization infrastructure 504, wherein the hypervisor platform hasan associated virtual infrastructure management system. The underlyingphysical machines comprise one or more information processing platformsthat include one or more storage systems.

In other implementations of the FIG. 5 embodiment, the VMs/containersets 502 comprise respective containers implemented using virtualizationinfrastructure 504 that provides operating system level virtualizationfunctionality, such as support for Docker containers running on baremetal hosts, or Docker containers running on VMs. The containers areillustratively implemented using respective kernel control groups of theoperating system.

As is apparent from the above, one or more of the processing modules orother components of system 100 may each run on a computer, server,storage device or other processing platform element. A given suchelement is viewed as an example of what is more generally referred toherein as a “processing device.” The cloud infrastructure 500 shown inFIG. 5 may represent at least a portion of one processing platform.Another example of such a processing platform is processing platform 600shown in FIG. 6 .

The processing platform 600 in this embodiment comprises a portion ofsystem 100 and includes a plurality of processing devices, denoted602-1, 602-2, 602-3, . . . 602-K, which communicate with one anotherover a network 604.

The network 604 comprises any type of network, including by way ofexample a global computer network such as the Internet, a WAN, a LAN, asatellite network, a telephone or cable network, a cellular network, awireless network such as a Wi-Fi or WiMAX network, or various portionsor combinations of these and other types of networks.

The processing device 602-1 in the processing platform 600 comprises aprocessor 610 coupled to a memory 612.

The processor 610 comprises a microprocessor, a CPU, a GPU, a TPU, amicrocontroller, an ASIC, a FPGA or other type of processing circuitry,as well as portions or combinations of such circuitry elements.

The memory 612 comprises random access memory (RAM), read-only memory(ROM) or other types of memory, in any combination. The memory 612 andother memories disclosed herein should be viewed as illustrativeexamples of what are more generally referred to as “processor-readablestorage media” storing executable program code of one or more softwareprograms.

Articles of manufacture comprising such processor-readable storage mediaare considered illustrative embodiments. A given such article ofmanufacture comprises, for example, a storage array, a storage disk oran integrated circuit containing RAM, ROM or other electronic memory, orany of a wide variety of other types of computer program products. Theterm “article of manufacture” as used herein should be understood toexclude transitory, propagating signals. Numerous other types ofcomputer program products comprising processor-readable storage mediacan be used.

Also included in the processing device 602-1 is network interfacecircuitry 614, which is used to interface the processing device with thenetwork 604 and other system components, and may comprise conventionaltransceivers.

The other processing devices 602 of the processing platform 600 areassumed to be configured in a manner similar to that shown forprocessing device 602-1 in the figure.

Again, the particular processing platform 600 shown in the figure ispresented by way of example only, and system 100 may include additionalor alternative processing platforms, as well as numerous distinctprocessing platforms in any combination, with each such platformcomprising one or more computers, servers, storage devices or otherprocessing devices.

For example, other processing platforms used to implement illustrativeembodiments can comprise different types of virtualizationinfrastructure, in place of or in addition to virtualizationinfrastructure comprising virtual machines. Such virtualizationinfrastructure illustratively includes container-based virtualizationinfrastructure configured to provide Docker containers or other types ofLXCs.

As another example, portions of a given processing platform in someembodiments can comprise converged infrastructure.

It should therefore be understood that in other embodiments differentarrangements of additional or alternative elements may be used. At leasta subset of these elements may be collectively implemented on a commonprocessing platform, or each such element may be implemented on aseparate processing platform.

Also, numerous other arrangements of computers, servers, storageproducts or devices, or other components are possible in the informationprocessing system 100. Such components can communicate with otherelements of the information processing system 100 over any type ofnetwork or other communication media.

For example, particular types of storage products that can be used inimplementing a given storage system of an information processing systemin an illustrative embodiment include all-flash and hybrid flash storagearrays, scale-out all-flash storage arrays, scale-out NAS clusters, orother types of storage arrays. Combinations of multiple ones of theseand other storage products can also be used in implementing a givenstorage system in an illustrative embodiment.

It should again be emphasized that the above-described embodiments arepresented for purposes of illustration only. Many variations and otheralternative embodiments may be used. Also, the particular configurationsof system and device elements and associated processing operationsillustratively shown in the drawings can be varied in other embodiments.Thus, for example, the particular types of processing devices, modules,systems and resources deployed in a given embodiment and theirrespective configurations may be varied. Moreover, the variousassumptions made above in the course of describing the illustrativeembodiments should also be viewed as exemplary rather than asrequirements or limitations of the disclosure. Numerous otheralternative embodiments within the scope of the appended claims will bereadily apparent to those skilled in the art.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method comprising:processing at least one user request to perform configuration operationson two or more cloud services components, wherein at least one of thetwo or more cloud services components is user-controlled; generating,using at least one rule-based configuration orchestrator, one or moreautomation files containing one or more workflows related toconfiguration operations on the two or more cloud services components;outputting at least a portion of the one or more automation filescontaining at least a portion of the one or more workflows related toconfiguration operations on the at least one user-controlled cloudservices component to at least one secure storage area accessible to atleast one user via one or more cryptographic techniques; processingfeedback pertaining to user execution of the at least a portion of theone or more automation files containing at least a portion of the one ormore workflows related to configuration operations on the at least oneuser-controlled cloud services component; and performing one or moreautomated actions based at least in part on the feedback; wherein themethod is performed by at least one processing device comprising aprocessor coupled to a memory.
 2. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein performing one or more automated actions comprisesautomatically executing, based at least in part on the feedback, atleast a portion of the one or more automation files containing at leasta portion of the one or more workflows related to configurationoperations on at least one other of the two or more cloud servicescomponents.
 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein thefeedback comprises data, automatically generated by the one or moreautomation files, in at least one format that can be processed by the atleast one rule-based configuration orchestrator.
 4. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein performing one or moreautomated actions comprises storing, in the at least one secure storagearea, the one or more automation files and the feedback.
 5. Thecomputer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein generating the one ormore automation files comprises validating a chain of trust for the oneor more automation files by signing the one or more automation filesusing one or more certificates.
 6. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein processing the at least one user request comprisesprocessing user-provided environmental information pertaining to one ormore of the at least one user and at least a portion of the two or morecloud services components.
 7. The computer-implemented method of claim6, wherein generating the one or more automation files comprisesinputting, in the one or more automation files, at least a portion ofthe user-provided environmental information and inputting one or moreplaceholders for environmental information not provided by the at leastone user.
 8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinprocessing the at least one user request comprises obtaining andprocessing information pertaining to each of the two more cloud servicescomponents.
 9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, whereinprocessing the feedback comprises accessing the feedback, using one ormore cryptographic techniques, from the at least one secure storagearea.
 10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein performingone or more automated actions comprises automatically updating, based atleast in part on the feedback, at least a portion of the one or moreautomation files containing at least a portion of the one or moreworkflows related to configuration operations on at least one other ofthe two or more cloud services components.
 11. The computer-implementedmethod of claim 1, wherein performing one or more automated actionscomprises automatically updating, based at least in part on thefeedback, at least a portion of the one or more automation filescontaining at least a portion of the one or more workflows related toconfiguration operations on the at least one user-controlled cloudservices component.
 12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1,wherein performing one or more automated actions comprises automaticallymodifying the at least one rule-based configuration orchestrator basedat least in part on the feedback.
 13. The computer-implemented method ofclaim 1, wherein outputting at least a portion of the one or moreautomation files containing at least a portion of the one or moreworkflows related to configuration operations on the at least oneuser-controlled cloud services component to at least one secure storagearea comprises automatically outputting a notification, to the at leastone user, pertaining to the outputting of the at least a portion of theone or more automation files using one or more application programminginterfaces.
 14. A non-transitory processor-readable storage mediumhaving stored therein program code of one or more software programs,wherein the program code when executed by at least one processing devicecauses the at least one processing device: to process at least one userrequest to perform configuration operations on two or more cloudservices components, wherein at least one of the two or more cloudservices components is user-controlled; to generate, using at least onerule-based configuration orchestrator, one or more automation filescontaining one or more workflows related to configuration operations onthe two or more cloud services components; to output at least a portionof the one or more automation files containing at least a portion of theone or more workflows related to configuration operations on the atleast one user-controlled cloud services component to at least onesecure storage area accessible to at least one user via one or morecryptographic techniques; to process feedback pertaining to userexecution of the at least a portion of the one or more automation filescontaining at least a portion of the one or more workflows related toconfiguration operations on the at least one user-controlled cloudservices component; and to perform one or more automated actions basedat least in part on the feedback.
 15. The non-transitoryprocessor-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein performing one ormore automated actions comprises automatically executing, based at leastin part on the feedback, at least a portion of the one or moreautomation files containing at least a portion of the one or moreworkflows related to configuration operations on at least one other ofthe two or more cloud services components.
 16. The non-transitoryprocessor-readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein performing one ormore automated actions comprises storing, in the at least one securestorage area, the one or more automation files and the feedback.
 17. Thenon-transitory processor-readable storage medium of claim 14, whereinprocessing the at least one user request comprises processinguser-provided environmental information pertaining to one or more of theat least one user and at least a portion of the two or more cloudservices components, and wherein generating the one or more automationfiles comprises inputting, in the one or more automation files, at leasta portion of the user-provided environmental information and inputtingone or more placeholders for environmental information not provided bythe at least one user.
 18. An apparatus comprising: at least oneprocessing device comprising a processor coupled to a memory; the atleast one processing device being configured: to process at least oneuser request to perform configuration operations on two or more cloudservices components, wherein at least one of the two or more cloudservices components is user-controlled; to generate, using at least onerule-based configuration orchestrator, one or more automation filescontaining one or more workflows related to configuration operations onthe two or more cloud services components; to output at least a portionof the one or more automation files containing at least a portion of theone or more workflows related to configuration operations on the atleast one user-controlled cloud services component to at least onesecure storage area accessible to at least one user via one or morecryptographic techniques; to process feedback pertaining to userexecution of the at least a portion of the one or more automation filescontaining at least a portion of the one or more workflows related toconfiguration operations on the at least one user-controlled cloudservices component; and to perform one or more automated actions basedat least in part on the feedback.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, whereinperforming one or more automated actions comprises automaticallyexecuting, based at least in part on the feedback, at least a portion ofthe one or more automation files containing at least a portion of theone or more workflows related to configuration operations on at leastone other of the two or more cloud services components.
 20. Theapparatus of claim 18, wherein processing the at least one user requestcomprises processing user-provided environmental information pertainingto one or more of the at least one user and at least a portion of thetwo or more cloud services components, and wherein generating the one ormore automation files comprises inputting, in the one or more automationfiles, at least a portion of the user-provided environmental informationand inputting one or more placeholders for environmental information notprovided by the at least one user.